It’s going to happen sooner or later: you’re hitting your stride, finally getting the hang of your author business… and life decides not to cooperate.
It might be a pandemic or natural disaster, it might be a divorce or a major illness – or in my case right now, coping with four deaths in fewer than three months.
Life Doesn’t Stop
In some ways it would be easier if everything came to a screeching halt. But in most cases, the rest of the world continues to move and turn with no regard to what’s happening to you. Even in 2020, with life completely upended, there were still time clocks to punch and deadlines to meet.
How on earth are you supposed to keep going? How will things ever go back to normal, and most importantly, you might ask yourself, how on earth will you find the energy to be creative and write?
Give Yourself Permission to Slow Down
Imagine you were driving a rickety old car that you knew could fall apart any second. Would you merge onto the highway at 60 miles an hour and risk never getting home at all? Or would you limp down a side street knowing that if you break down on the way, at least you’ll be safe?
If you can take time off from work, do it – I recommend giving yourself a week to rest as much as possible before even trying to push yourself at all. If you can’t take time off from work, do the bare minimum. Do the bare minimum at home. Get food and groceries delivered, watch terrible television, let the laundry go unfolded and do whatever else you need to do just to take care of yourself.
It Won’t Be the Same Right Away
Do not expect to be at 100% right out of the gate. You’re not a machine (although even machines require maintenance.) You’re alive. Life is messy and full of things that we can’t control.
There are elements of life where you will have to put on a game face and act like you’re more okay than you really are. It might be exhausting. Plan for it to be exhausting and plan to rest more than you needed to before.
Work Will Wait
“Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls– family, health, friends, integrity– are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” – Gary Keller, The ONE Thing
Let’s say you don’t market your book for a month. Maybe you don’t even market your book for a year. Your business will still be there for you when you’re ready to start again. Money is a renewable resource – you can always find a way to make more of it.
Hang In There.
Take the time you need. There’s only one action step this week: to rest. See you next week for part two.